economics
...t consumers held a tight grip on spending in February but was better than economists had expected. They were predicting consumers would trim spending by 0.2 percent. Because of this, businesses are also being effected. And the way it looks, the economy isn’t getting any better anytime soon. When the war started, Americans stopped their spending, oil prices rose, and job layoffs increased. Since then it has been a domino effect. Things have been getting worse and worse. The stocks have also dropped. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq have been continuiously dropping. "The market's absolutely going to be very volatile and controlled by the latest news we get from Iraq.” (WashingtonPost Online, 2003) The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a loss of 376 points, or 4.4 percent. The Nasdaq lost an average of 3.6 percent in just one week. Again, the major contributor is said to be the war in Iraq. Average interest rates on U.S. 30-year and 15-year mortgages have risen for a second straight week as the war in Iraq intensifies. The United States 30-year mortgage rates rose to an average of 5.91 percent from 5.79 in just one week. 15-year mortgage rates from 5.11 percent to 5.21 in one week. However, on a positive note, “…the market expects the conflict to end relatively soon, thereby allowing the business sector to shift its focus from the short term to the long term and begin activity that would spur economic growth.” (Yahoo News, 2003) Uncertainty of the effects of the war has kept the Federal Reserve from ...